Curtain’s Up

Movie Gallery Inc. (Dothan, Ala.) has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with a new chief executive in place.

C.J. Gabriel Jr. has been appointed as president and ceo, succeeding company founder Joe Malugen. Malugen is expected to remain on the video rental retailer’s board.

Gabriel was most recently executive vp of marketing, merchandising and supply chain management at Albertsons Inc. (Boise, Idaho).

“Gabe is a highly-experienced and proven executive with the right qualities — inspirational leadership, strategic insight and operational discipline — to lead Movie Gallery forward,” Malugen said of Gabriel. “Gabe knows what it takes to run a successful retail business and understands what actions can be taken in today's rapidly evolving video rental industry. Movie Gallery is emerging from bankruptcy with a talented new leader committed to meeting the needs of our customers, employees and other stakeholders. I am confident in Gabe's ability to return the company to profitability.”

Movie Gallery filed for bankruptcy protection in October 2007. One of the reasons given, apart from the changing nature of the movie rental business, was the debt it assumed with the $1 billion acquisition of Hollywood Entertain Corp. (Wilsonville, Ore.) in 2005, following a protracted bidding war with Blockbuster Inc. (Dallas).

Movie Gallery is still the second-largest North American video rental company with approximately 3300 stores located in all 50 U.S. states and Canada operating under the brands Movie Gallery, Hollywood Video and Game Crazy.